Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Strawberry Lovin'

This is my submission for Rach's June Baking Challenge. The challenge for this month was strawberries! Yesterday was my birthday (yay!) and I was going to post my celebration dessert, but I didn't want to feel rushed in editing the photos and uploading the recipe so instead, I present you with Strawberry and Blueberry Cobbler Cake. I originally spotted this cake at The Kitchen Sink and was taken aback. It looked so lovely. Kristen said it tasted almost like a strawberry shortcake. I'm not a huge fan of shortcakes so I wasn't sure I wanted to make this but I'm glad I did.

I did have a minor problem when I made this. I doubled the recipe and put equal amounts into 2 pie plates. One for us and one for my neighbor- their son was graduating. Only I wanted to use my new-to-me Corning ware pie plate that I got from Goodwill for only $2.99! Only that's where my problem was. The recipe calls for a 10-inch pie plate and this one was significantly smaller so it overflowed in the oven and burned all over the place. It was a freakin' mess.

I immediately smelled the smoke and rushed into the kitchen. I pulled out both cakes- the Pyrex pie plate was just fine- thank God! I scraped the over-flowing lava-like cake batter off of the edge and took out about half a cup of batter. I cleaned the oven as best I could and popped them back into the oven to finish their baking with a sheet pan underneath them, just in case.

With 10 minutes left to go on my kitchen timer, I went to check on the cakes and the berries had completely sunk despite me flouring them :-( Bummer, I hate when that happens. So I added a few more blueberries to the top of the cake and popped them back in. When the timer beeped at me I went to check them and they looked perfect. Nothing like they should but, but perfect to me.

Oh my gawd, this was delicious! I didn't think my husband was going to like it, but he went back for seconds! We finished this cake off in a day and a half, it was that good. It didn't taste like a shortcake to me at all. It was definitely cakey, but very moist (maybe because I added more fruit) buttery, vanilla-y and very reminiscent to a cobbler, so I renamed it. Beside if I want strawberry cake, Ill make this one! Despite my many mishaps, I would definitely make this cake again (in my Pyrex pie plate, not my pretty Corning ware find) :-)

Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, buttermilk, and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to buttered pie plate. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons raw or granulated sugar over berries.

Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Let cool in pie plate on a wire rack. Cut into wedges. Cake can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, up to 2 days.

NOTE: You can use all strawberries (1 pound) or a combination of berries that you prefer. Use enough to cover the top of the batter.

I can't wait to hear about your birthday. I thought of you. This cake looks similar to the Gourmet recipe I posted-- which was pretty fabulous, by the way. Great save on the fruit! Oven spills-- how I know the frustration. But, as always, you pulled it off. PS: You still need to make strawberry balsamic jam... I'll help you!

I made this last night, Monica. Everything went well. I actually used a smaller but deeper pie plate and I had no spillage. My only issue was my beautifully arranged strawberries SUNK! Like you couldn't even tell that they were there! :( Other than that it was great. The kids and one of their buddies (he spent the night) loved it.They all had two pieces. The sprinkling of raw sugar on top was the bomb. I loved how it made it kinda crunchy.

Hi Monica!!! I know I'm a little late--and I'm not quite sure if you'll ever read this, but thank you so much for posting this recipe! I am a teenager who loves baking and photography--just like you! This was one of the first recipes I had the guts to use my mom's Kitchen Aid Stand mixer, after one occasion where I poured flour in too quickly while it was mixing, and it went everywhere! Anyways, this looked too good to pass up because of my previous trepidation's, and my family and I adored it! I was thinking of substituting the blueberries and strawberries with peaches and raspberries, but the blue and red fruits went wonderfully for the Fourth of July. Thank you again!!! Beth R. -- Massachusetts

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Welcome To My Blog

My name is Monica and I'm a stay at home mom living in central Texas. I like to cook, but baking is my passion. I am an (obsessive) collector of cake stands, cookbooks and bakeware. I make lots of yummy treats and often share my sweet creations with friends, family and anyone else who is willing to be my guinea pig. I have lots of recipes in the archives so I hope you'll stick around for awhile!

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